Alleged Threatening Incident Involving Handgun Was Drug-Related, Court Papers Say

A Mystic woman arrested this week for threatening another person with a handgun was upset about a drug deal gone bad, according to documents filed in New London Superior Court.

The court documents said the woman initially surrendered to police, then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and had to be wrestled to the ground.

Leslie Taylor, 27, of 60 Whittle Street in Mystic, was charged April 5 with two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree threatening, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal attempt to possess narcotics, breach of peace and interfering with an officer, according to a town police news release.

She has pleaded not guilty. She is being held on a $50,000 bond and has been on a suicide watch, court documents said.

A probable cause report filed by Groton Town Police said officers were called on April 5 to a house on Breezy Knoll Drive in the Mystic section of Groton for a report of a woman threatening a resident with a handgun.

Dispatchers told police that a woman and man were leaving the house in a green Buick, that the victim knew the woman, and that she lived at 60 Whittle Street, the report said.

Police went to the house on Whittle Street, and the woman initially surrendered, raising her hands, the report said.

Then one of the officers stepped away to retrieve a toy weapon the woman said was in the back yard, and she ran to a kitchen drawer with knives, the report said.

“It appeared to me that she was grabbing a large kitchen knife when (the officer) grabbed Taylor from behind and wrestled her to the ground,” one of the officers said in the report.

Police recovered a .32 caliber Beretta semi-automatic pistol with an empty magazine and 5 rounds of .32 caliber ammunition from the house.

Taylor later told another officer that an alleged drug deal took place earlier at her house with the victim’s roommate, the report said.

“Taylor purchased what she believed to be crack Cocaine, but later discovered it was fake,” the report said. Police also recovered a fascimile of packaged Cocaine.

Taylor is scheduled to appear next in court on April 13.